O Diabo dos contos de Machado de Assis: destino, herança e errância do Satã miltoniano

Abstract

Machado de Assis’ short stories “A Igreja do Diabo” and “O Sermão do Diabo” were published in 1884 and in 1893, respectively. The reference to the Devil’s myth may suggest to the reader references to several sources, including the Bible and other medieval representations. The focus of this text is to include one more representative of the Devil’s myth in the intertextual universe of Machado de Assis: Milton’s Satan. Satan is present in the Machadian short stories, not in typological way nor as a copy, but in a different perspective, the one that promotes more significance to this fictional element. The relationship between Milton’s Satan and the Machadian Devil is read using the logic of the supplement, as proposed by Jacques Derrida. Thus, Machado de Assis, Milton’s reader, revives, in his short-stories, the literary discourse of the Devil’s myth, supplementing its meaning in the Brazilian Literature of the 19th century, and does not escape the errancy, tradition and heritage of the English author.